<p>Great scholarship, for those from extreme poverty-stricken status. Didn’t know was positively FULL ride. Anyway, done with questioning. Whatever you do, best of luck, and you have a great future…</p>
<p>After having more information, I think you should go to UCLA. Right now you may think you are only short 8K a year, but you haven’t factored into flights back and forth from CA to NYC. You’ll miss home on holidays and if you don’t have money in NYC it will only be harder. You sound like a smart person. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ll have opportunity to live/work in NYC at some point.</p>
<p>You’ve got me curious thuanphung, are you at Gunn by any chance?</p>
<p>A lot of the time, to have funin the city, you need money. UCLA is right in Westwood LA. You won’t be in debt, you’ll have money to spend in the city, and not have to use your salary when you get a job after college to pay for your education. UCLA is an amazing school, and a full ride is an amazing opportunity. </p>
<p>I am not from Gunn (that’s a high school I am assuming??)</p>
<p>Also, I have thought about the flights from NYC to San Jose and sadly, going to Barnard will mean I see my family 2 times a year (at the most).</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the comments!</p>
<p>This is about to get more confusing. What if I said I had a full ride to Cal? haha I will find out soon if I receive the scholarship to Cal or not soon but I still have a chance :)</p>
<p>come on dustypig, have you read the OP from the very beginning? Her family has no money to support her schooling. Do you think some one from Palo Alto where homes start with 1.5 million has no money to put her through Barnard and has to pinch $8000/year?</p>
<p>Wow, that’s quite a sweeping assumption to make about every single family in Palo Alto. What about the people who bought in the 90’s before real estate prices skyrocketed? What about my friend who is a single mom with a small income who lives in the house that belonged to her parents and thus has no mortgage debt? What about people who bought more house than they could afford precisely in order to get their kids into Palo Alto public schools, but now have no money for anything else? How can you assume that every resident of Palo Alto has thousands a year to fling around however they like?</p>
<p>I’m certainly not going to speculate about OP’s family’s financial situation because it’s none of my business and I would almost certainly be making wrong assumptions.</p>
<p>never mind, its a moot issue.</p>
<p>I think if you get a full ride to Berkeley then that is where you’ll go. 
I honestly feel based on everything you’ve posted that is where you’ll be happiest, if the finances allow.</p>
<p>But I assume that because of timing, you have to submit your SIR to UCLA first. I’m guessing as the beneficiary of a full ride that you don’t have to deposit any money. (And UCLA won’t hold it against you if you change your mind later because of a scholarship offer from another university made after the May 1 deadline). </p>
<p>Ok everyone! Again, thank you so much for the responses. I am so tempted to write all of you thank you cards 
(would that be creepy?)</p>
<p>The last two days have been crazy and I did not wanted to post anything before it was official (though it is not official yet, it’s pretty close).</p>
<p>May 30th: Berkeley promised to get back to me by today and they haven’t. I have decided to send my SIR to UCLA because I am fed up and sick of waiting. I am just ready to pull my hair out because of anxiety and stress.</p>
<p>May 1st 3:10P.M: I just found out I got the scholarship!!! Just canceled my SIR to UCLA and SIR’d to Cal. </p>
<p>I love Berkeley and am VERY EXCITED to start in the fall Truthfully, I was debating between Barnard and Berkeley but ended up choosing UCLA at first because of financials. But now, I am very happy that I got the scholarship to Berkeley and wont have to worry about paying anything.</p>
<p>Now, I will have use for the 5 winer coats I originally bought for Barnard (definitely could not have used them in the 60* winters in L.A. haha).</p>
<p>I just feel like the universe was throwing so many obstacles at me but some how everything worked out? Again, thank you for the answers and support :D</p>
<p>Congrats, glad you received what you wanted. What is the full ride scholarship called that you received from Berkeley?</p>
<p>Also, just for point of fact of those applying in the future, students should not send in simultaneous SIR’s to more than one UC campus to decide way later. I wanted to state this earlier after Calmom’s last post, but didn’t want to dredge up an old post. </p>
<p>The UC has a master database of all who are accepted to all 9 campuses and will apparently send nasty emails to those who SIR more than one. Glad you were able to SIR one but not the other, and later cancelled and SIR’d Cal. </p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances and choice.
Just found this thread.
So far great advice, but what was missing is the fact that Barnard is not just another LAC…the school is technically an IVY for women, since it crosses enrollment at Columbia. I know someone that got a dual degree from both schools in five years. So that was an important factor, that to some people it might be worth a net cost of the loan.
However, avoiding loan is always a great thing, and who does not want to graduate debt free!</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I am SO HAPPY for you! I think you will love attending Berkeley and I am also glad that you are attending a school that is closer to home. I do think that sometimes things have a way of working out for the best … even though of course it came down to the very last minute. </p>
<p>Congratulations on getting the scholarship to Cal!!! It sounds like the best option for you academically and financially. And it’s awesome that not only you got into this top school but also got an extra scholarship. Are there perks with the scholarship, like early registration?</p>
<p>Fantastic! What a great ending. You sound like the kind of person who will make the most of the opportunity now being given to you!</p>
<p>Congratulations. Time to get excited. You have done the hard work. Have a great summer.</p>